Heart of Rime and Regret
By @john1208
I woke up thinking today was the day Jarek would finally claim me. Instead, my ordinary morning shattered when the Skogar Elders declared my family traitors, stripping us of our rank. Jarek didn’t stand by me; to protect his future as Alpha, he rejected our bond and left me to the wolves. Banished to the frozen wastes, my only comfort was a parting gift from Elder Yrsa, the one woman I thought I could trust. I didn't know the trinket was the stolen Rime-Core, nor that she framed my family to seize power. As I lay dying in the snow, the artifact shattered, fusing with my soul. I awoke changed - my weak form replaced by radiant, winter-kissed power. Rescued by Valdemar Rost, the terrifying and undefeated Alpha of the rival Vindur pack, I find an unexpected, bittersweet solace in his silent, protective shadow. Meanwhile, Jarek's Alpha aura is rotting away as punishment for rejecting his true mate. As Jarek desperately searches for the breathtaking silver-haired stranger he glimpsed at the border, what will happen when he realizes the queen standing beside his greatest rival is the very woman he threw away?
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